Houston Car Accident Lawyer Blog

Should a parent own a breathalyzer on alcohol screening tester? A family I know with two teenage children swear by the alcohol testing approach if they have any suspicions at all that a child had been drinking and driving. If anything shows up-the child is grounded and a car is taken away.

Obviously drinking and driving my teens is extremely dangerous and illegal. My friend's reasons for owning a Breathalyzer is to make sure that their children come home safely and not injure others. As parents, we hope that we have given our children proper foundations to make good choices-yet young people have not developed fully life skills at the teenage years and some are prone to experiment.

There's no doubt that drinking and driving or drunken driving accidents are the single largest factor in teenage auto accidents involving a fatality. In the teenage years many young children do not appreciate the risks or the consequences and it can be devastating to a family. There is a local family who recently lost their daughter who have courageously started Krysta's Karing Angles and serve our community by going around and showing teenagers a crashed vehicle and the consequences of driving while drunk.

Another factor is that many children are killed not because they were driving drunk but because they were riding with a drinking driver. Much time should be spent talking to our children about the dangers of riding with someone drinking in addition to the dangers of drinking and driving.

At the end of the day-on the question should a parent own an alcohol press screener my response is it sure couldn't hurt. Excellent testers can be had for under $100.

Additionally do not forget to lead by example and practice what we preach.

Continue reading "Should Parents Breath Test Teens?" »

Currently the weight limit for commercial trucks is 80,000 pounds, this limit is imposed by the federal government. In addition, regulations forbid semi-trucks to pull more than a single tractor. But if the trucking company lobbyists have their way the weight limit will be increased to 97,000 pounds. In addition, they would like the laws to be changed so that they are able to pull two trailers instead of one.

While this certainly sounds advantageous to the trucking industry as a whole - I would suggest that it has nothing but disaster written all over it for the American driving public. For your edification - may I remind you of a few of the more germane statistics related to semi-truck accidents that occur under the current trucking industry regulations.

In a recent year nearly 5000 fatalities due to semi-truck accidents occurred on city, rural and highway roads. That is an average of 14 people killed every day in a semi-truck accident somewhere in the United States. While only 1% of these is due to a driver who is under the influence of alcohol or drugs - 27% of these same drivers have been ticketed for speeding...and if it's hard to slow down a semi-truck weighing 80,000 pounds in a single trailer without losing control - believe me when I say that a double trailer semi that weighs (for all practical purposes) nearly 100,000 pounds is going to be even more difficult to bring to a safe stop in challenging conditions.

You have a voice - contact your representative and let them know you do not support the increased tonnage for the semi-truck industry.

Continue reading "Increased Weights For Semi Trucks?" »

Almost every day, in Houston, someone is seriously hurt or killed due to a drunk driver. The reports go on and on day after day and despite the best efforts of our law enforcement and elected officials the problem shows no sign of abatement.

In the Houston area we have tried no refusal weekends, which I must say was a very successful campaign in terms of the number of arrests made on the street. Even with that successful campaign, there is little evidence to suggest that DWIs are dropping.

Often, as in reports from a recent car accident on I 45 in North Houston, speed is combined with allegations of drinking and driving to result in a very serious accident. Some authorities have estimated as much as 40% of fatal car accidents in the Houston area can be attributed to alcohol.

I would suggest that the key to reducing drunk driving accidents in the Houston area is to combine stepped-up enforcement with a statewide campaign focused on the dangers and consequences of drunk driving. Such campaigns as "friends do not let friends drive drunk" have been very successful. Another campaign I noticed in the neighboring state was 'don't ride drunk' and I am curious to see how effective that can be. A great many times the passenger of a drunk driver is the one that is seriously injured or killed.

Continue reading "The Rise of Houston Area DWI Accidents" »

As long as there continue to be automobile accidents in Texas and across the country I will continue to discuss them in this blog Perhaps the circumstances of one may prevent an individual from finding him or herself on the wrong end of a vehicle collision.

Two Texas females were pulled off to the side of a road in their truck in a neighboring state when their vehicle was hit from behind by a state transportation truck. Both vehicles left the roadway altogether - the women were killed and the transportation worker, aged 61, was injured. The accident is still under investigation and the cause has yet to be determined.

People who drive must be cognizant of the fact that just because you are pulled off the highway does not mean you cannot be hit be other vehicles traveling in the same direction. There is no physical barrier to prevent it - only the false notion that you are safe. It is better to exit a highway altogether if you must stop. Look for a rest area or a place to turn off completely from the highway. Many accidents each year are from cars parked on the side of the roadway or trucks parked without required cones.

A recent report allowed that a mother let her 15-year-old son to take the wheel as they were returning home from another state to their residence in Texas. The boy lost control of the car, which left the highway and struck an abandoned vehicle. While they were outside of the car - where a group of teens had stopped to help - another vehicle struck the car and the mother was killed. Others at the scene were transported to the hospital where they were treated for injuries of varying severity.

Continue reading "Texas Accidents on the Roadside" »